The Tulane Maritime Law Journal is the preeminent student-edited law journal in the field of Admiralty and Maritime Law. Published semi-annually, each issue of the Journal includes scholarly works written by academics, practitioners, and students concerning current topics in Admiralty and Maritime Law. In addition, the Journal publishes annual sections in Recent Developments and International Law for the United States and the international community, as well as periodic symposia on relevant topical areas in the field and quantum and collision surveys every other year.

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Tulane Maritime Law Journal Updates

According to a letter Thursday from Fred Bartlit, Jr., the
lead investigator for a federal probe of the Gulf oil disaster, BP and Halliburton
knew of potential flaws in the cement slurry used to reinforce the oil well
below the Deepwater Horizon rig before it exploded on April 20, 2010.

The letter, to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater
Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, said that tests in February on a
cement slurry similar to what was used on the Macondo well showed instability
-- and that both companies had the data.The news caused Halliburton stock to drop in value by almost 8 percent
by the end of trading Thursday, to $31.68 a share.

Bartlit emphasized in his letter that cementing failures are
a known hazard in the oil industry, with specific tests such as a
"negative pressure test" and "cement evaluation logs"
designed to identify cementing problems. However, he wrote, workers at BP and
possibly the company that operated the Deepwater Horizon rig, Transocean,
"misinterpreted or chose not to conduct such tests at the Macondo well."

A commission hearing on the disaster is scheduled for
November 9, but Bartlit's letter said he was notifying the commission about the
cement slurry issue immediately in order to "facilitate [its]
consideration of their implications for offshore drilling safety."

Russia's state-run United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) may
sell 20 to 30 percent of its shares in an initial public offering in 2013, according
to USC President Roman Trotsenko. Russia accounts for approximately only 0.4
percent of global civilian shipbuilding and slightly over three percent in
military shipbuilding, and USC is currently engaged in exclusively military production.However,
USC has announced plans to move towards added civilian output in the
future in an attempt to create a Russian corporation analogous to the American shipbuilder Northrup
Grumman.In addition to its
potential IPO, USC is currently in the process of valuing the shipbuilding assets
of United Industrial Corporation with an eye towards purchasing those assets.

A Somali pirate who pleaded guilty to charges that he and
three other men hijacked a U.S.-flagged vessel off the coast of Somalia and
took hostage its captain.That
man, Abduwali Abdukhadir, will be sentenced Today, Tuesday, October 19, 2010.

Prosecutors say that Muse acted as the ringleader when he
and this three cohorts seized the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama by force about
350 miles off the coast of Somalia on April 8, 2009.Once on board, the armed men demanded the ship be stopped,
then abducted and held the captain of the ship, Richard Phillips, hostage on a
lifeboat for four days. The USS Bainbridge, a U.S. Navy destroyer, came to the
assistance of the vessel, and in radio communications, the pirates threatened
to kill Phillips if they were not guaranteed safe passage away from the scene,
authorities have said.Four days
after the hijacking began, Muse boarded the Bainbridge and demanded safe
passage for himself and the others in exchange for Phillips' release, according
to a criminal complaint.According
to authorities, Muse was then taken into custody, and while he was away from
the lifeboat, Navy SEALs shot and killed the three remaining pirates.

During his plea on May 18, 2009, Muse apologized for his
actions and blamed the incident on the Somali government."What we did was wrong. I am very
sorry for all of this," Muse said. "All of this happened because of
the government in Somalia," he added.In addition to the Maersk Alabama, Muse was charged with
participating in the hijacking of two other vessels in late March and early
April of 2009. Muse told the court
that he and the three other men had agreed to "capture any ship that came
by." He added that he did not
recognize the U.S. flag on the Maersk Alabama.